Government Relations
As the summer days waned so did any hope that the Pennsylvania General Assembly and Gov. Josh Shapiro’ s Administration would end their stalemate and pass the budget for FY 2025-26. The primary stumbling block— funding for mass transit. In mid- August, the House passed a transit / transportation funding bill to address, among other things, the growing concern over SEPTA’ s impending service cuts via HB 1788. The Senate passed its own proposal( HB 257) to address transit and transportation funding in the state.
The Senate also voted on a budget bill to flat fund the budget( SB 160) for the current fiscal year at $ 47.6 billion. This contrasts with the $ 50.6 billion budget passed by the House earlier this summer. Neither of the proposals that the Senate advanced were agreed to by the House or the Governor, as evidenced by House Rules and House Appropriations voting down the Senate’ s transportation funding and budget bills in committee, both by party line votes. Negotiations continued behind closed doors as summer crept into fall, with the expectation that the House and Senate will resume the legislative session in mid-September.
Meanwhile PDA continues to monitor the following bills: HB 544 and SB 888: Credentialing Reforms
• Requires practitioners and insurers to use the CAQH system.
• Requires timely notice to applicants when an application is incomplete.
• Limits the credentialing period to 45 days.
• Streamlines the process for practitioners practicing in multiple locations.
• Introduced by Rep. Steve Mentzer in the House and assigned to the House Insurance Committee and introduced by Sen. Dave Argall in the Senate and assigned to the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee. PDA submitted a letter of support to the Senate committee, which may consider the bill this fall.
SB 849: Community Water Fluoridation Ban
• Sen. Dawn Keefer introduced a bill modeled after Utah and Florida’ s legislation to ban community water fluoridation at the optimal level in all of the Commonwealth’ s public water supplies.
• PDA opposes the bill and is prepared to respond should the bill start moving through the Senate. We’ ve developed a network of dentists to help respond to media inquiries and educate key legislators who decide which bills are sent to the House or Senate floor for votes.
HB 1325: Dental Loss Ratio Reporting
• Rep. Kyle Mullins reintroduced legislation requiring dental insurers to report their dental loss ratios( DLR) to the Pennsylvania Insurance Department( PID).
• A law establishing a reporting requirement on an MLR for dentistry— the percentage of revenue from premiums spent on patient care— would enhance transparency for patients seeking oral health care and make dental insurers more accountable.
• PDA is involved in stakeholder discussions with dental insurers and the PID to reach a consensus that will move the bill out of the House Insurance Committee.
HB 1290: Licensing Board Advisory Opinions
• Allows licensees to make a written request that their respective licensing board render advisory opinions that clarify or interpret regulations relevant to the licensee.
• Boards would have 30 days to render an advisory opinion after receiving a written request.
• Advisory opinions would be binding on the licensing board solely with respect to the licensee to whom it is issued.
SB 614: Primary Care Preceptorship Program for Community Health Centers
• Authorizes the Pennsylvania Department of Health to establish a Federally Qualified Health Clinic( FQHC) primary care workforce initiative that includes different healthcare fields, including dentistry.
• Goal is to offer clinical rotations at FQHCs to students attending an accredited school.
• The legislature would appropriate $ 2.5 million for grants awarded under this preceptorship program.
• Sen. Brook’ s bill was introduced in April and assigned to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.
HB 157: Rural Health Care Grant Program Act
• Incentivizes health care providers, including dentists and dental hygienists, to practice in rural areas of the Commonwealth.
• Facilities in rural areas may apply for grants to pay a provider’ s education debt.
• Providers must meet certain criteria to be eligible for loan repayment.
• Introduced by Rep. Kathy Rapp and reported out of the House Health Committee in February.
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2025 | PENNSYLVANIA DENTAL JOURNAL 7